DKF Hangers - Where to buy?

[86Zed]

Recently swapped out the RPI noise cannons my Z4M had installed at the date of purchase for a Stromung muffler setup. Note: the RPI GT exhaust is a riot on the weekends and track, not for the weekday commute or gf/fiancee test. Issue is I had a hard time perfecting the exhaust tip alignment height and protrusion past the bumper. Long story short I left the exhaust hanging a bit low and well past the bumper (see images).





After reading a DIY here it looks like I could get back under the car and maybe have better luck, but the Stromungs seem prone to a bit more poke. Another option is the DKF hangers I see mentioned a lot, which look like a nice quality replacement over OEM. Where can I pick these up?

Any advice is appreciated!

[Jumbosock]

The DKF will not help at all with the protrusion. They only help with the side to side and up and down.

You can adjust the height without the DKF. Just loosen the exhaust at the flange and then use something to prop up the exhaust tips. I use a small jack with a towel for padding. Then tighten up the flange bolts. The exhaust will stay close to where you had it propped up. You might need to try a few times to get it right. This also works for side to side adjustments if you wedge something on the side before tightening up the flange bolts. Oh and tighten the bolts together slowly. Don't tighten one bolt fully and then the other. They have to be tightened together.

[tiltmode43]

Originally Posted by Jumbosock

The DKF will not help at all with the protrusion. They only help with the side to side and up and down.

You can adjust the height without the DKF. Just loosen the exhaust at the flange and then use something to prop up the exhaust tips. I use a small jack with a towel for padding. Then tighten up the flange bolts. The exhaust will stay close to where you had it propped up. You might need to try a few times to get it right. This also works for side to side adjustments if you wedge something on the side before tightening up the flange bolts. Oh and tighten the bolts together slowly. Don't tighten one bolt fully and then the other. They have to be tightened together.

As Jumbosock said, the DKF hangers alone won't alleviate your issue. If they are used to try to adjust too much, you will damage the vibration isolators.

To prevent the exhaust from hanging too low tighten the rear outer most hangers first (nearest the wheels). Then, while holding the mufflers up as high as you can (or using a small jack per Jumbosock), work on the section 2-muffle flanges. I recommend these flanges to be positioned with the bolts above and below the pipe (perhaps with some slight angle, maybe 20-30 degrees from perpendicular to the ground). Start by tightening the top flange down first, then move to the bottom one. Might have to switch back and forth a couple times but the end goal is to intentionally have some bias towards the top bolt. I've swapped exhausts a few times and this always seems to work. When I'm done with the rear flange, the top bolt is tighetened more than the bottom bolt (though both are torqued quite a bit of course). The donut gasket allows this slightly uneven torquing without causing any sort of exhaust leak. After this is done, the center exhaust hanger should be lined up, and just needs to be tightened into place. Drop the jack and you'll see the mufflers should not really drop much, if at all. Repeat a couple times if you really want to get it precise, you should see how it works after trying this method the first time. The DKF hangers helped fine tune a bit but proper adjustment can be had without them.

**When using OEM hangers, I put them on the muffler before installing onto the car, this should help make things easier.**

Calling pokeybritches regarding the DKF hangers, he may have an idea on where to source this should you still want them.

[86Zed]

Originally Posted by tiltmode43

As Jumbosock said, the DKF hangers alone won't alleviate your issue. If they are used to try to adjust too much, you will damage the vibration isolators.

Originally Posted by Jumbosock

You can adjust the height without the DKF. Just loosen the exhaust at the flange and then use something to prop up the exhaust tips. I use a small jack with a towel for padding. Then tighten up the flange bolts. The exhaust will stay close to where you had it propped up. You might need to try a few times to get it right. This also works for side to side adjustments if you wedge something on the side before tightening up the flange bolts. Oh and tighten the bolts together slowly. Don't tighten one bolt fully and then the other. They have to be tightened together.

Thanks for the tips. I will need to have another go underneath the car and see if I can't produce a better result. First time doing an installation of any sort myself, knew there would be a slight learning curve

[pungo]

Maybe I was lucky, but I used the stock hanger and my tip are centered and up as high as I want them. I went for an even gap on both sides and above.

Simply spin the exhaust clamps for side to side adjustment and tighten the upper or lower bolts for up and down height. I think my clamp bolts are at around 45-60 degrees. Takes a little fiddling, but with some patience, you can adjust them perfectly with the stock hangers. Like others have said, there isn't any adjustment for the protrusion, though you can loosen the screws on the bottom of the bumper and pull the bumper outward and tighten the screws. It gives a little adjustment. Mine protruded further on one side so I pulled the bumper outward on that side and tightened the screw down. Mine are perfect aligned and have stayed put.

BTW, those DKF hangers require cutting off the nut that's welded on the Stromung mounting bracket, just so you know.

[JCF]

I tried the DKF hangers and found that the Stromung mufflers are too heavy and after a few days the rubber isolation bolt tears apart. The Stromung cans are slightly heavier than the DKF so that's probably the cause. I went back to the OEM solution and got it where I like it.

I've got the bare metal DKF hanger (no isolation pads, no bolts) if you wanted them for $75 plus shipping. You'd need to get bolts and the rubber pads to make them OEM again. Considering the hangers go for 250 or so that's a pretty good deal